3 men sentenced for gang-related murder of Arroyo Grande man
Three men who pleaded guilty to the gang-related murder of an Arroyo Grande man were sentenced to several years in state prison Wednesday morning.
Robert Garay, 30, was sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison and both Gabriel Garay, 23, and Nathaniel Jara, 24, were sentenced to 13 years and four months in state prison for the murder of 41-year-old Daniel Fuentes.
Robert Garay’s sentence in San Luis Obispo Superior Court comes after he entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder and active participation in a criminal street gang in February.
Because he has a 2010 conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, which counted as a “strike” under California’s Three Strikes sentencing law, the usual be a 15 years to life sentence for second-degree murder was automatically doubled.
Gabriel Garay and Jara entered guilty pleas to voluntary manslaughter and active participation in a criminal street gang in February.
Both have previous strikes — Gabriel Garay for a 2015 conviction for assault by means likely to cause great bodily injury and Jara for a 2018 conviction for possession for sale of a controlled substance for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
The manslaughter sentences were automatically doubled from 6 years to 12 years because of the previous strikes the two had. The sentences for active participation in a criminal street gang were also doubled, from eight months to one year and four months.
“The people of San Luis Obispo County and all of California deserve full enforcement of our laws to hold violent criminals fully accountable and to keep our communities as safe as possible,” San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said. “This prosecution and appropriately strong prison sentence sends a resounding message that San Luis Obispo County will fully enforce the law to protect our community.”
Man shot, killed while riding bike in Oceano
Fuentes was shot while he was riding his bike in April 2019.
Jara and the Garay brothers exited the car, authorities said. Robert Garay fired a handgun at Fuentes, shooting him twice in the back.
After being shot, Fuentes knocked on a neighbor’s door in the 2200 block of Beach Street and told the residents he had been shot, before collapsing inside the home.
Jara and the Garays allegedly targeted Fuentes because of a long-standing “beef” over a runaway family member, according to courtroom testimony.
At a preliminary hearing in September 2020, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office Det. Chad Guiton said he had reviewed text messages from Fuentes’ phone that indicated Fuentes and his family were concerned that a female family member was hanging out with the Garay brothers.
Guiton showed text messages and social media posts and messages that link the three men to a gang and threats toward Fuentes. Guiton said Fuentes was not a gang member.
The day before the shooting, texts show that a family member of Fuentes reached out to a mutual friend who was also friends with the Garays, telling the person to “leave Daniel out of it.”
According to Guiton, that person said it was already too late and that Fuentes “had trouble with his homeboys already.”
One of the Garay brothers also searched “Oceano homicide” roughly 20 times during the two days after the shooting.
Surveillance footage appeared to show Robert Garay in a gray shirt at a Grover Beach liquor store in a gray long-sleeved shirt shortly after the killing, less than two miles from where Fuentes was shot.
When the Garay brothers and Jara were pulled over about a week later, the shirt was found in the car and tested positive for gun residue. A cigarette butt found at the scene of the shooting also showed “strong evidence” to matching Robert Garay’s DNA, according to courtroom testimony.
The three pleaded guilty to crimes connected to the murder on Feb. 16.
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 1:36 PM.
